LAHORE, March 28: Led by goalkeeper, Jaffar Khan, a 20-member Pakistan team left for Bangladesh on Tuesday to take part in the AFC Challenge Cup to be held at Dhaka and Chittagong from April 1 to 16. Striker Mohammad Essa is the vice-captain.

In all, 16 countries of Asia are taking part in the event.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter will be chief guest at the opening ceremony of the 31-match tournament which kicks off in Dhaka on April 1. Pakistan are in Group ‘D’ along with Central Asian states Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and East Asian nation Macau.

Pakistan will play all their three league matches at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Stadium that hosted 5th SAFF Championship 2003.

Pakistan’s opener will be against Kyrgyzstan on April 2.

After a rest day, Pakistan clash with Tajikistan on April 4. The event will also provide second-ever Pakistan-Macau international soccer encounter on April 6.

The first tussle between the two saw Pakistan winning 3-0 in 13th Asian Cup Qualifiers (Group-C) at Jalan Besar, Singapore March 21, 2003.

Group ‘A’ comprises India, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines and Afghanistan while Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Brunei are in Group B.

Bangladesh, Palestine, Cambodia and Guam are in Group ‘C’.

Bahrain’s Salman Ahmed Sharida will act as head coach of Pakistan team while his countryman Mohammad Shmlan al Shmlan and Pakistan Army’s Mohammad Afzal will be his assistants.

Team:

Goalkeepers: Jaffar Khan (captain; Army), Aqeel Ahmed (HBL).

Defenders: Mohammad Imran Lefty (Army), Zubair Moazzam (Wapda), Samar Ishaq (Panthers FC), Mohammad Shahid (Wapda), Naveed Akram (Wapda), Khalid Munir (Army).

Midfielders : Abbas Ali (NBP), Javed Hamza (KESC), Faheem Riaz (Army), Abdul Aziz (NBP), Zahid Hameed (WAPDA), Asif Ayub (KPT), Farooq Shah (NBP), Zeshan Aslam (Wapda).

Strikers: Mohammad Essa ( Afghan FC, Chaman; vice-captain), Imran Hussain (Army), Naveed Khan (Army), Adeel Ahmed ( PTCL).

Schedule of Pakistan’s matches: April 2: vs Kyrgyzstan. April 4 : vs Tajikistan April 6 : vs Macau.